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CHICAGO. 

A. FLANAGAN. PUBLISHER. 



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Copyright 1891 

BY 

A. FI^ANAGAN. 



v43 



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PREFACE. 

This little book is make up of gleanings from many 
school journals, educational books and talks with other 
teachers spreading over many years of teaching. It seems 
to me that if I, at the beginning of my work, had had a 
friend to instruct me, give me hints, or to tell me what in 
the educational books and school journals would be of 
practical use to me I'd have saved much time and some 
annoying experiences. I hope these "Points Picked Up" 
wall be to you, young teachers, the words of a friend. 

The Author. 



MANAGEMENT. 

1. Begin school as if you had just heard good news 
and took pleasure in imparting, and keep this up all day. 

2. If you would keep a bright pupil out of mischief 
give him enough to do. 

3. To teach is not to simplify every step until there is 
no real work for the child to do. 

4. Many children, if they learn good breeding at all 
must learn it at school, so endeavor to make school the dis- 
trict center of good manners and politeness. 

5. Get the parents to visit school even if you have to 
resort to giving exhibitions in which their children '' show 
off." 

6. In an ungraded school have the smallest possible 
number of classes and in classification consider both age 
and capacity. 

7. Train your older pupils to correct and credit the 
papers of the younger ones. 

8. If your school is large, alternate the recitations 
of the more advanced. Do not attempt to hear all the 
classes every day. 

9. Teach the book. Man}^ teachers express dissatis- 
faction with the book. If you can find a better one, use 
that. If you cannot find a better one and think you can 
write a better one — write it. But if you can do neither, 
teach the one 3^ou have so that the pupil may have some- 
thing to rely upon when he cannot have you. Do not 
depend upon blackboard or oral teaching entirely. 

10. The "thank you's" and '"if you please' s " are 
important items in school discipline. 



6 Points Picked Up. 

11 Every thing that is explained to a pupil which he can 
find out for himself robs him of so much education. 

12. To aid in discipline — Mark each section daily, giv- 
ing the sections perfect in deportment a yellow mark (call it 
a gold mark). The imperfect sections receiving white 
marks. At the end of the week the section having the 
most ' ' gold marks ' ' is entitled to certain privileges for a 
week — such as being dismissed first, etc. 

13. Another — Elect captains of sections and let them 
choose pupils to sit in their sections. If a section is per- 
fect in deportment all day, place lOO merits to its credit on 
the board. At the end of the week or fortnight elect new 
captains and choose over. The pupils who have lowered 
the grade of their sections will find themselves very unpopu- 
lar. 

14. Another — Establish a system of bookkeeping. 
Each pupil keeping his own account of Dr. and Cr. A 
failure or misdemeanor being entered on the Dr. side and 
each perfect day in deportment on the Cr. side. At the end 
of the week they must balance their books and report. 

15. This is a an old device, but a useful one for saving 
noise and confusion : Establish a system of signs by means 
of which the pupil may ask the teacher from his place in his 
seat and without speaking. For example : — " Raising one 
finger may mean ' ' May I come to you ? ' ' Two fingers 
' ' May I speak ? ' ' Three fingers — ' ' May I pass to some 
other part of the room, ' ' etc. 

16. To do away with noise when passing out — Appoint 
monitors to bring wraps, etc., to their owners and let them 
be put on a few moments before dismissal. While this is 
being done a song may be sung or you or a pupil be read- 



Points Picked Up, 7 

■» 

ing some entertaining story aloud. Your noisiest pupil will 
forget to be noisy. 

17. A teacher who has to resort to repeated calling his 
school to order by tinkling the bell or by speaking, lacks 
the art of good management. 

18. Whispering — Have a talk with the pupil about the 
trouble it makes — i. Robbing another of his time. 2. 
How speaking of important things soon runs into the habit 
of talking of unimportant. 3. That even a little whisper- 
ing disturbs those in his neighborhood. 4. How it calls 
the teacher's attention from the classes. 5. Finally — 
how it interferes with the working order of the entire school. 
Such a talk is often effective. Try to make it tmpopular to 
whisper. 

19. To keep desks neat — Near the beginning of the 
term take time to have books placed in order, one by one, 
according to the teacher's directions. This establishes an 
order to be followed throughout the year. 

20. It is a temptation when a pupil is in trouble with 
his lesson to help him out with it, but it certainly is a mis- 
take on the teacher's part to give any help until his pupil 
has first made an earnest attempt to help himself. 

21. Some teachers actually discourage their pupils by 
expecting too much of them. 

22. No teacher should be continually saying to his pupils, 
' ' You will surely fail on examination with such lessons as 
these," ''You are doing poorly," etc. It irritates both 
pupil and teacher. 

23. The cases are rare indeed when ridicule has good 
results and the teacher who desires good work should avoid 
it under all circumstances. 

24. Nothing is surer than that pupils grow and develop 



8 Points Picked Up. 

by what the3^ do themselves, not by what their teacher does 
for them, therefore; he is the most successful teacher who 
gets the most work out of his pupils, not he who works the 
most himself 

25. Often the reason a pupil has difficulty in learn- 
ing a lesson from a book is that he is not able to read it. See 
that each child reads his grammar, geography and arith- 
metic understandingly. 

26. When something funny occurs in school don't be 
afraid to laugh. It is frequently better to laugh than to scold. 

27. Choose certain places on j^our blackboard for certain 
lessons, and, by habitualiy follomng this rule, the children 
will come to know where to look for instruction as to each 
lesson. 

28. Blackboard, crayon,books, pointers, pencils, maps, 
etc., are the teacher's tools. The convenient and orderly 
arrangement of these tools will save time and, also, every 
day teach an object lesson in orderly habits. 

29. Write every morning, in a conspicuous place on the 
blackboard a new motto. 

30. Never at any time give a pupil information without 
expecting, him at some future time, to give it back. 

31. Be in the district, if possible, a few days before school 
opens. 

32. Organize the older pupils of your school into a read- 
ing club, meeting weekly or monthly. 

33. A query box, into which questions on morals and 
manners are placed by pupils, for the teacher to answer, 
often brings a needed reform in that line. The reading and 
answering the questions may be part of the opening exercises. 

34. Don ' t waste time in the class having things explained 
that are well understood. 



Points Pickek Up. 9 

35. Don't wander too much from the lesson. 

36. Don't waste time by attempting to explain to the 
children what is entirely beyond their comprehension. 

37. Don't have children fold their arms. It is uncom- 
fortable and makes them crooked. 

38. See to the orderly arrangement of everj^thing. Have 
a place for each pupil to hang up his hat, keep his books and 
sit in the class. 

39. Have as few classes as consistent with the wants of 
the school. 

40. Begin promptly and close promptly. 

41. Use suggestions instead of commands 

42. Make few rules. 

43. See that the room is properly ventilated. 

44. Try to govern by the eye rather than by the voice. 

45. Keep the dull and the idle pupils in front. 

46. Don't neglect the quiet, dull children. Often a child 
is neglected simply because he is good, that is, he makes no 
disturbance and the teacher does not find out how little he 
is learning until examination comes. 

47. Don't neglect the bashful child. Often he does not 
comprehend and his timidity prevents his asking for expla- 
nation. 

48. Four essential qualifications of a good teacher: 

1. Pure and upright moral charhcter. 

2. Scholarship. 

3. Ability to impart instruction. 

4. Good governing powers. 

49. Never deprive a child of anything of value without 
returning it to him at the proper time. 

50. Do not encourage pupils to report each other's mis- 
demeanors. 



lo Pomts Picked Up. 

51. Never find fault without showing why and indicating 
a better way. 

52. Be slow to promise but quick to perform. 

53. Ask yourself ' ' Would I like to go to school to such a 
teacher as I am?" 

54. Discipline should aim at improving the character. 

55. The teacher should be an example in person and 
character of what he requires of his pupils. 

56. Studies should be adapted to the capacity of the 
pupils. 

57. Scholars should not be kept in at recess. It is not 
play alone that those so detained are deprived of, but of that 
necessary ph3^sical exercise and relaxation from mental 
application which the young so require. 

58. Scholars should not be detained after school hours 
as punishment or to make up deficient lessons. They belong 
to you only during school hours, after that your authority 
ceases. It is doing 3^ourself a wrong as well as the children. 
You are both tired, mentally and physically, and it is your 
duty to go home and let the child go too. 

59. Write the following on the blackboard and see what 
the children say about it: 

MY DUTY AS A PUPIIv. 

1. Attention to my teacher's instruct! 

2. Good behavior at all times. 

3. Not to communicate during school hours. 

4. Not to present as my own any work that is done by 
others. 

5. Not to laugh at trifles and create disturbance. 

6. Not to ridicule new methods introduced into the 
school room. 



Poi?its Picked Up. IX 

7. To be prompt in obeying signals. 

8. To remember that if I act in an unbecoming manner 
it reflects upon ni}^ bringing up at home. 

9. To use my best endeavors to influence the younger 
pupils for good. 

10. To do all of to-day's work to-day. 

2 1 . To study politeness and keep in mind that it pays 
to exercise it 

60. Think about your work; talk about it only when 
necessary. 

61. Attend all the teacher's meetings you possibly can. 

62. There are two ways in which teachers injure and ill- 
use memor}^ They give it no variety of work or they refuse 
all exercise whatever. 

63. Don't have too much blackboard work. It ruins 
many children's eyes. 

64. The teacher's success depends in a great measure 
upon pleasing the people. This does not depend altogether 
upon methods of teaching. First please the pupils. 

65. A teacher's social qualities often have more to do 
with his success than the excellence of his methods. 

66. "John" or "Mary" can spoil any teacher's popu- 
larity in the district, therefore, in as far as you conscien- 
tiously can, keep "John" and "Mary's" good will. 

67. Greet pupils pleasantly when they arrive in the 
morning. Help the little ones to get off" their wraps and to 
the fire. 

68. Accept invitations to the homes of the pupils or to 
parties in the neighborhood. 

69. Talk with parents about their children and use as 
much praise as will not injure your conscience. 

70. Try to send the children home with favorable reports 



r2 Points Picked Up. 

of your work as a teacher. Don't despise these little adver- 
tisements if deserving. 

71. Try to unite with the teachers of your neighborhood 
for the general good. 

72. School directors will always help a teacher who 
helps herself. 

T^. Be reasonably polite to your pupils but do not be 
officious. 

74. If there are any grumblers in your district do not 
turn a cold shoulder on them. Go to them and try to find 
the basis of their discontent — they frequentl}^ have one. 

75. Among the minor ways of securing punctuality and 
regular attendance is to have a part of the blackboard 
reserved for absent and tardy pupils to write their names on 
when they return. 

76. Another scheme for the tard}^ : — Have a board on 
which the pupils' names are written, (opposite each name a 
hole being drilled,) hung in a convenient position. Have a 
box at hand containing both black and white pegs. When 
a pupil arrives in time he sticks a white peg opposite his name. 
If tardy, a black one. This also makes a convenient device 
for calling the roll. 

77. Another — Have both red and blue ribbon badges. 
A«t the end of the week give the pupil who has been neither 
absent nor tardy a blue ribbon, those who have been tardy, 
only, a red one, those absent receive nothing. 

78. Questions like the following put on the board 
occasionally for the older pupils to answer will set them to 
thinking and perhaps do more good than • a course of lect- 
ures on morality. 

1 . What trait of character do you dislike most ? 

2. What one do you admire most ? 



Points Picked Up. 13 

3. What character in American history do you admire 
most? 

4. What one do you dislike most? 

5. Give reasons for these likes and dislikes? 
What quality do you admire most in a man? 

7. In a woman? 

8. What do you regard as the greatest source oj 



evil? 

9 
10 
II 
12 



Who is your favorite novelist? 
Who is your favorite poet? 
What is your favorite novel? 
What is your favorite poem? 

79. Give as few orders as possible but be firm in having 
them promptly and thoroughly obeyed when given. 

80. Try to impress children with due respect to law. 

81. Good discipline is impossible with children unem- 
ployed. Allow no waste of time in beginning. 

82. Avoid speaking in a loud, blustering tone. 

83. Be ever on the alert and warn when necessary. 

84. Do not scold and never threaten. 

85. Give careful attention to details. 

86. Know your boys. 

87. Never sneer at children. Be cautious not to dampen 
their natural ardor and gaiety. 

88. Authority should be felt not seen. 

89. The need for much punishment means, in nearly all 
cases, weak handling. If children are troublesome look to 
yourself first. 

90. In teaching, distinguish carefully between the 
means and the end. 

91. The amount of good accomplished by a thought- 



14 Points Picked Up, 

ful teacher in private conversations with his pupils is hard 
to estimate. 

92. What constitutes good order depends upon circum- 
stances. What would be good order in a high school might 
be very poor in a primary just because it would be too good 
and obtained by too much constraint and repression. 

93. In the lower grades never tell pupils to study until 
you have told them what to do and how to do it. 

94. Give short lessons to j^oung pupils but give them a 
good deal to do about each. 

95. Have the school room well ventilated, (by opening 
windows at top and bottom, if necessary). Impure air 
enervates both leader and children and sows the seeds of dis- 
ease. 

96. Sweeping should be done after school, never in the 
morning. 

97. A teacher's success is often measured by his ability 
to advance small pupils. 

98. Keep pupils busy and you will easily control them. 
When you assign them work see that they do it. 

99. Show an interest in your pupils ; fix up a neat 
school room for them and you will not be under the neces- 
sity of searching for a new school each year. 

100. Passing to class or from the room : — Ask the mem- 
bers of the class to rise at a given signal ; if any one hesi- 
tates or gets up slowly, have all to sit, give signal, and rise 
again. Repeat this in a pleasant way until all rise at the 
same time. When this is accomplished, agree upon a sig- 
nal for passing. If pupils pass abruptly, or out of order, 
try to show them how to pass quietly, then require this, in 
a pleasant manner, until the object is attained. 

101. When pupils persist in crowding and pushing when 



Points Picked Up. 15 

passing from the room, notice carefully those who do no 
crowd ; mention their names, and say that they may rise 
and pass out together at the first signal and say that the 
others need more time because they get so confused and dis- 
orderly ; for the present they may go last; but as fast as they 
learn to be orderly and soldier-like they may join the ranks. 

102. If you notice your pupils unusually restless and 
inattentive, allow them to spend a moment in some simple 
physical exercise. 

103. Have occasionally pronunciation lists. Select and 
put on the board about ten words commonly mispronounced. 
Do this in time to enable earnest pupils to consult the dic- 
tionary. 

104. Do not distract attention. It is wrong to stop the 
work of a class because one pupil is a little disorderly at his 
seat. 

105. A teacher is responsible for the proper care of the 

school property in his charge. 

106. The teacher should especially guard against having 
such a rush of work come to a focus at the hour of closing 
that the school shall be dismissed in confusion. Better call 
all work to a close a few minutes before the time for dis- 
missal, and have all pass out quietly and in order. 

107. Whispering : — Ask the pupils to go without 
whispering for half an hour or an hour and at the end of the 
time ascertain who have succeeded, letting them raise their 
hands. Commend their success, give them a little rest, and 
then let them try for another period. 

108. Whispering : — Have a time set apart for speaking, 
by having a large card marked ' ' Study Hour ' ' on one side 
and ' ' Needful Speech ' ' on the other. At the end of each 
hour turn the card with the ' ' Needful Speech ' ' out for a 
minute. 



LIBRfiRY OF CONGRESS 



1 6 Pomts Pieked Up. 

029 456 452 "2 ""4 

109. Whispering : — Keep an eye on the noisy ones and 
give them a separate place to sit, not so much as a pun- 
ishment as to prevent them from disturbing others. 

110. Whispering : — Give extra employment to those who 
seem to have time for whispering. 

HI. Whispering : — Dismiss in order of orderly conduct 
as you have noted it. 

113. Do not punish when angry. 

112. Do not let a known fault go unpunished but do not 
magnify small offences. 

113. If about to enter a strange school room do not imag- 
ine strange things. Your ideal concept of a school room 
and the room you enter will not tally. 

111. If a record has been kept by your predecessor, study 
it carefully. 

115. Set it down as one of your first day's tasks to get 
acquainted with the 7iames of your pupils. It gives you a 
hold upon them. 

116. Honor your School Board that your days may be 
long in the land in which you are teaching. 



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CilTflltOGUE. 



My large Cata- 
logue is a necessity 
to every wide-awake- 
on-the - look- out -for- 
all- the- help- he- can - 
get teacher. It des- 
cribes the above, and 
hosts of other similar 
goods. Sent free on 
request. 




EDUCATIONAL 

Publisl^er 

CHICAGO. 



05 
06 
30 
90 
20 
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pi 



iIeaoqiJarters 

FOR 



Scl)ooI=-RooiT) Troutle Killers. 



Alphabet Cards, 400 letters in a box ... i 
Arithjnetic Cards, 400 figures in box . . 

Busy Work Devices— 100 in book 

Cook's Methods in Arithmetic 

Curious Cobwebs, Nos. 1 and 2, each, . . 
Castle's School Entertainments, 200 

pages, 

DrawingMadoEasv, Cards andManual, 

Sets I, II, III, IV. each 

Easy Experiments In Chemistry and 

iPhilosophy 

Favorite Speakers, Primary, Inter- 
mediate, Higher, each 

Flag Drill 

Gems of Thought— Literary Cards 

Grube Method in Arithmetic 

General History Cards, 120 cards in box, 
Graded Literary Cards, Eng. or Am., 

each, 

Hull's Drawing Designs, sheets 

Book 

How to Study History , .... 

HiBtorical Mottoes for the wall 

Hunter's Historical Cards 

Literary Whist , 

Labor-Saving Test Problems 

Merry Songs, words and music 

vierry Melodies, words and music 

tcCormick's Practical Geography' 

'Iorrison'3 Readings and Recitations, 

1 and 2, each 

anual of School Exercises 

scle. Beauty and Health 

ctical Etiquette, cloth 

i>gogical Ideals 

ihard's Choice Dialogues 

trell's Pocket Class Book 

t Cards per hundred. .50 and 

3of the World 

d Cards, large variety 

mentarv Reading Cards, 1st 
der„ 10c. ; 2d Reader, 12c., 3rd 

der, 15c 

V for Blackboard, 200 designs. 



CflTflliOGOE 



My large Cata- 
logue is a necessity 
to every wide-awake- 
on-the - look' out -for- 
all- the- help- he- can - 
get teacher. It des- 
cribes tlie above, and 
hosts of other similar 
goods. Sent free on 
request. 



School Life (words only). 

Cards 

iries for Opening School . 

"compositions 

\ my Pupils, 



05 
06 
30 
90 
20 
50 




/ EDUCATIONAL 

Pilblisl^er 

CHICAGO. 



